


An Odd Little Duck

by Peter164



Series: Alternate Universe [9]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Bipolar Eren Yeager, Canonical Character Death, Gender-Neutral Hange Zoë, Genderfluid Armin Arlert, Genderfluid Character, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Has OCD, M/M, Trans Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-03 00:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6589714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peter164/pseuds/Peter164
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren has fallen for the adorably tiny boy that comes in every day. He knows, he's started to get coffee instead of making it just so he can stare at him. But little does he know that the cute little angel he watches is one odd little duck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to play with POV a little bit. So just be aware of that.

There he was again. What book was he reading? What was he drinking today? He normally had tea. Would he drink something different today? If not, what kind of tea? 

Eren was lost in thought watching him. He was so precious and small. He sat straight-backed in his chair and read his book. Just as he did every day. He always looked so neat and tidy and everything was so organized and perfect. 

His dark hair fell just above his stone gray eyes. He was thin and short and if he wasn't in a button up shirt, he was in something baggy. Needless to say, Eren was smitten. And he just needed to talk to him. He picked up his bag and his coffee and strolled over. 

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit with you?" Eren asked. 

"There's plenty of empty tables. I don't understand why you must sit with me." He looked up from his book. 

"Well, I thought that you might like some company. And I've seen you here the past couple days and really wanted to talk to you." Eren explained. 

"Nine days. You've sat at that table and stared at me every one of those days. Don't think I didn't notice." He said without looking up from his book. Eren blushed a little.

"You could have come up and talked to me you know. I'm not that scary." Eren told him. 

"I didn't want to talk to you. And I am that scary." He said. This time glaring at him. Chills went down his spine. 

"Can we at least talk now? You seem really interesting and I think it'd be really fun to get to know you." He smiled. The man rolled his eyes, but did set his book down. 

"Interesting is one way of putting it. But whatever, hit me." He relaxed into his chair. 

"For starters, what's your name?"

"Which one?" The man asked with a small tilt of his head. Still perfectly emotionless. 

"What do you mean?"

"The name I was born with or the name I actually use? Yes, they're different." He snapped out. 

"What should I call you?" Eren was trying, but this guy had a thick outer skin. But that didn't matter, he could get through with enough time. 

"Levi." He answered. 

"I'm Eren." He smiled. Levi scoffed, "What's the matter?" 

"Nothing. Just the fact that we've both got biblical names." He shrugged. 

"My name's spelled differently though." He pointed out, "What are you reading?" 

"Edgar Allan Poe's short story collection. Most people don't like them, but I think they're charming." He said. They continued chatting until Levi glanced at the clock, gathered his things and left. Next to nothing was learned about Levi and his air of mystery. But if anything, it made Eren want to find out more. 

~*~

Today he sat in exactly the same spot he did yesterday and waited for Levi to walk in. And at exactly the same time as every other day, he entered and sat down. One of the baristas brought him his usual cup of tea. He wondered briefly if the two knew each other. 

"I see you're persisting with this conversation thing." Levi said. 

"I am. And I'm going to until you stop being so cold towards me." Eren stated. Levi always sat like he had a ruler glued to his back. 

"Guess what, bitch, I'm never going to stop being cold towards you. Just ask Hange." He said. Eren leaned forward, "Someone I've been friends with since I was a kid."

"Now I know something about you. You're not awful like you keep saying you are. If you were, you wouldn't keep a relationship, however platonic, for very long." Eren smiled. 

"Well, we've been through a lot together. They could've hated me, cut me out, totally forgotten about me. But they didn't, so I'm staying as close as possible and praying no one finds out without my knowing." He explained. Eren was intrigued by his story. What happened to this adorable, tiny, precious little angel that would make anyone want to cut him out of their lifes.

Unless he was a serial killer or somekind of underground sex slave dealer or something, Eren couldn't possibly hate him. He'd only just met him, but he was already in deep. 

"Mind me asking what happened?" Eren couldn't help himself. 

"I do mind." Levi stated. 

"This is going to sound like a really weird question, but are you gay? Not that you seem gay or anything, I'm just wondering." He sputtered out.

"I am. But believe me when I say that's the least of my worries. Why do you ask?" Levi asked, sipping his tea. 

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime, with me. Just to a movie or out to lunch or something. It doesn't have to be anything dramatic." Eren asked. He had to get through his shell somehow. 

"Why?" He seemed hesitant to answer. 

"Because I think that you'd be a really awesome person once I break down this wall you've got up. That and I think you're really cute." He smiled at him. 

"That's all? No other reason?" His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. How could someone be so expressive and not move their face very much? 

"What other reason would their be? I can assure you I'm not looking to take you home after a lunch date, much less a first date. And I'm not some creepy rapist or anything. I promise." He smiled warmly, trying to make him feel safe and comfortable with him. 

"Are you sure?" Levi asked, "Because I've been approached by a lot of people, and that's all they had in mind. And honestly, I don't really care for the idea."

"Well it's a good thing that I just want to watch Batman." Eren grinned. He didn't know why Levi was freaking out, but he did know that he could try to make him feel more at ease with him.

"Really?"

"Yes really. You're having such a hard time trusting me. If you're not interested, then you can just tell me. I can handle rejection." He told him. 

"No its not that. It's just that I haven't been very good had holding relationships because all they want is sex. And that doesn't really work out." He admitted. 

"Why not?" Eren asked, leaning forward to talk to him. 

"I'm asexual." Levi told him. Eren waited for him to explain, "I don't feel sexual attraction. Never have, most likely never will. I'm not broken, I'm not celibate, I don't just have a low sex drive. I'm different than you."

"You still haven't answered my question." Eren batted his thick eyelashes, "Do you want to go out with me, on a date?" 

"Only if you promise you don't care that I don't want to sleep with you." Levi sighed. 

"Cross my heart. Besides, that means you're less likely to cheat on me if we end up together." He smiled, "So when and where?" 

"Scouts' at 11 on Thursday?" Levi asked. He didn't seem to really know what to do. 

"Sounds fantastic. I'll see you then." He knew that it was nearing that time when Levi picked up his bad and walked out. Why him was so precise? Who knows. But he had a date with and God was he happy about that. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Armin.

"Hey. What's up?" He asked. Eren wondered what Armin was today. 

"Nothing much. Remember that guy I was telling you about?" Eren asked. 

"Yeah."

"I just got a date with him, and do you happen to know where Scouts' is?" He asked.


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn't walk in until exactly 11:00. He knew Eren was probably already there, but it was 10:59. At least he wasn't as bad as before. He'd improved a lot since he was 15. So what if his parents thought he didn't have a real problem. Actually they did, but he wasn't talking about his OCD. 

The clock ticked and he entered the cafe. Most of his friends were here. Some weren't even aware of his, situation, he decided to say. He found Eren and sat across from him. 

"You're very punctual." He was biting his lip. 

"I don't really have a choice, honestly. Unless I want to have another panic attack." He shrugged. 

"What?" Eren asked. If that wasn't to spike your interest, nothing would. 

"I have OCD. I'm taking medication for it. We've tried just about everything and, while its not totally gone, this is really the only thing that improves it." He explained. 

"Is that why you're there every morning?" Eren asked. 

"And why I hold teacups the way I do. And why my apartment is spotless all the time." He said. 

"Well at least you're clean. I live with my roommates and the three of us combined mean it's pretty messy." He admitted. Levi actually enjoyed listening to the kid talk. It wasn't often that he found a person even tolerable, "So, I guess it's my turn now." 

"For what?"

"You told me something about you, so now I tell you something about me." He stated, "Now you told me something about your state of mind, it's only fair I tell you something about mine."

"You don't have to-" 

"Shush, I want to. I'm bipolar." He admitted. He didn't seem ashamed in the least. Not like Levi was. 

He was awful. Why couldn't be born normal? He just had to be the way he was. Life forced him to inject chemicals into his blood just to feel remotely okay. He had a life of surgery and discrimination ahead of him. But he finally felt human. 

"You're turn."

"I have my ears pierced. Or I did, they probably closed up." He shrugged. 

"Me too." Eren laughed a little. 

"No shit, Sherlock. You're wearing earrings." He pointed out, "My turn again? Okay, uhm, I have a cat named Sunny."

"Seems like an odd name for you to give a cat. Not to offend you, but you don't seem like a sunny person." Eren told him. 

"I know. I didn't name him. Hange did. They've got one named Beans." He explained. 

"That's adorable." Eren giggled. 

"Fuck." Levi muttered under his breath, "Here they come now. Looks like you get to meet Hange today."

And two seconds later Levi was getting hugged by someone with big eyes and brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Glasses perched on their nose. Levi looked very displeased at having his head pulled towards their chest. 

"Levi! Oh my God! You didn't tell me you had a date! How dare you! Beans has been missing you. He's very upset. You need to come visit more. Are you just sitting, cooped up in your house? Have you been making nests again? Is it acting up again? Are you taking all your pills?" They babbled on and on about how Levi needs to take his medicine every day if he wants to get better. And it's not that far away if you think about it. 

"Hange. Please shut the fuck up. I promise I'm taking everything. I'm just fine. I don't like people very much, you know that." He calmed them down. 

"Are you sure? You're acting like you used to." Hange told him. 

"I think I would remember sticking a needle in my ass once a week." He snapped back, "Now go study conjoined twins or something. See if you can separate them."

"Don't be sassy." Hange tapped his nose. Levi wanted to break her neck, "But I probably should go. I just wanted to say hi. Oh, by the way I'm Hange, his only friend."

"I have other friends." He protested. 

"Erwin doesn't count. He's your ex."

"We're still friends." Levi muttered. 

"And that's great. But he still doesn't count. And Petra's crushing hard on you." Hange told him. Levi grumbled until they left. 

"Seems like a fun person. But, do you mind if I ask about something?" Eren asked. There was a number of things he could ask. Levi could feel panic rising in his chest. 

"I guess. Sure. Go ahead." He started shrinking into himself. 

"You stick a needle up your ass once a week?" He seemed confused. Levi's breath started working of its own accord and he struggled to wrangle it in. 

"More my upper thigh hip area, but yes." He said. His heart beat our of his chest. 

"Mind if I ask why?" Eren leaned forward. Levi's cheeks tinted red, "It's okay of you don't want to. I don't want to freak you out."

"No it's fine. It's just that my last boyfriend, Erwin, broke up with me because of it. And my parents disowned me. And also kicked me out of the house. And I don't have great luck in general with people knowing." He shrugged. He didn't want Eren to know. He didn't want to be alone again. 

"Levi, you have to trust me when I say I'm one of the most open-minded people on the planet. My best friend is genderfluid. I'm gay and also really like crossdressing. My almost sister has a panic disorder. And that's just who's living in our house." He smiled. He seemed genuine. Levi felt safe with him. He was still nervous, but he felt safe. 

"I'm trans. My name used to be Anastasia." He bit his lip, bracing himself for attack. Preparing to hear someone tell him that he was just sick, it wasn't a real thing, he was awful just for existing, he wasn't a real he. 

"I've always had the same name, so I'll just tell you my middle name instead." He smiled, "It's Isaac."

"You don't care." Levi couldn't believe it. 

"No I do care. I care very much. I care because now I know I have boundaries and there's things I can't do. And I know that there's things I should expect to happen." He said, "If we continue with our relationship, I'll probably see you on a lazy day which means, if you don't have top surgery yet, you probably won't be in a binder. Just as an example."

"But it doesn't matter?" Levi wanted just one person to think he was telling the truth. 

"Not if you don't care I'm a crossdresser." He shrugged. Levi couldn't stop the corners of his lips turning up just slightly, "You're smiling."

"I guess I am." He said. 

"It's cute. You should smile more." Eren told him.

Their date continued on. They told each other stories and joked with each other. They discovered their shared passion for Horror movies. And overall, it simply went well. And Eren invited Levi to watch Civil War with him in two weeks.

"I haven't watched the other Captain America movies though." He said. 

"We're changing that tonight. My place or your's?" Eren asked. 

"Is my apartment okay?" He asked hesitantly. 

"As long as we can watch Captain America." He said, "And probably Iron Man too while we're at it." He said. 

"Do we want to go right now?"

"Yes I do." Eren said. Levi internally giggled. He didn't watch a lot of Superhero movies. He saw Guardians of the Galaxy, but that's it. 

"We have to wait for three more minutes first. It's 11:57." He told him. 

"Okay." He stayed sitting. Levi was almost shocked with how fine he was with his quirks. He didn't care that he had what Hange called a Pinocchio complex. He didn't care that he had to do certain things in order to keep calm. He didn't even care that he was ace. It was nice to know someone cared. Even if that someone was new to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Eren was sitting on the couch waiting for Levi to come and sit with him. The man in question was currently making popcorn for their marathon. As soon as he sat down, his phone started ringing. 

"Who's that?" Eren asked. 

"Petra. She's sort of in love with me. Pretty sure she won't be when she finds out." He shrugged. 

"Answer it. I don't mind." Eren smiled at him. 

"No. She can wait. Besides, even if I did like girls, she's too young for me." He said. 

"Is she six or are you just ridiculously old like Aragon. He's like 85. And he's gorgeous." Eren laughed. 

"She's 18 and every time I see her dad he sits there and asks me when we're getting married. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do." He said. Eren laughed. 

"Does he know you're gay?"

"I told him. He hasn't stopped asking yet." Levi looked down at his lap. 

"Wait, you said she's 18." Eren asked. Levi nodded, "I'm 21. How old are you exactly?" 

"29. To me you're a baby." He stated. Eren's jaw dropped. 

"How did you manage to just shave off 10 years from your face. That's amazing." Eren grinned. 

"I thinks it's because my face is shorter than most men, making me look more like a baby." He said. He let his phone stop ringing and put it on silent. 

"Your voice is really ridiculously deep though. Whatever you're doing is working." Eren complimented. 

"Vocal training combined with testosterone. If I go back up to where I was before I sound like a fucking child." He said. Eren couldn't believe that he'd forced his voice that low. That was incredible. But he was curious to find out what he sounded like without the training. 

"Think I could get a sneak peak?" Eren asked, "If you want to anyway. If it triggers something then don't."

"Hello, my name is Levi Ackerman and you're watching Disney Channel." His voice was at least an octave higher and much softer. He still sounded like a boy, but a very lispy boy. Eren smiled. He was falling hard and fast for him. The way he was built made him look like he would bake cookies and give you hugs and kisses when you came home and stand on his tiptoes to give you a kiss to welcome you home from work. But the way he held himself, the way he presented himself made him look like he would beat the shit out of you without breaking a sweat. 

"That is so cool. You should teach Armin how to do that. He's always panicking about his voice. He's scared that it'll give him away. Well when he's a she anyway. I don't know if he's a she right now. But he said I could use he if I didn't know." Eren shrugged. As much as he loved Armin, and how little he cared that he was sometimes a she. It made his head spin sometimes. 

"You're really trying hard to make your friend feel accepted. He's not even here and you're still concerned about pronouns." Levi pointed out. 

"Well he just came out of the closet and I really don't want to fuck up our friendship. He's really important to me and this isn't like Jean's trans phase wear he dressed like a girl for a month and was over it. Armin's different, he's calculative and he knows what he's doing. But he's not exactly confident, and he needs someone to stand with him." Eren told him. 

"You're a good friend, Eren." Levi told him. Eren wanted nothing more in the world than to kiss him. He held himself back though. He didn't want to scare away his new treasure. That sounded odd knowing now how old Levi really was. 

"Thank you." He smiled at him, "Now let's watch Captain America."

"Sounds like a plan." Levi leaned back. Eren started the movie. It didn't take long for him to get distracted and nuzzle up against Levi. His head rested on his shoulder and Levi's arm rested along the back of the couch, around his shoulders. Eren felt warm and safe here, he already trusted this man without really knowing much about him.

The train scene, as always, was a struggle for Eren. Levi seemed to sense this and gently pulled him closer. His expression didn't change once. How? Eren had no idea. He was such a mystery. It made Eren want more than he could have. Even if Levi wasn't trans, or ace, he still wouldn't be able to get everything he wanted. But he was somehow okay with that. 

The movie closed out and Eren quickly looked up to see what he thought. And he was unreadable. 

"What did you think?"

"It was all together a good movie." He said calmly. He face was stone cold. 

"God, your voice is pretty. I think I forgot since I didn't hear you talk for two hours." Eren smiled. Levi had such a presence when he spoke. It made him seem larger than he really was. 

"Thank you. I guess. I'm happier with it now than the fucking chipmunk voice I had in college." He said. 

"You sound like you'd be really good at Podcast acting or something. Like if you signed up to play Cecil's long lost brother in Night Vale, that would be perfection. I might just have to turn you into my Carlos."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Levi raised an eyebrow. 

"I should show you Night Vale at some point. It's awesome. It's weird as hell, and creepy, and a little bit worrying sometimes, but it's awesome. It has some of the best quotes I've ever heard." Eren explained. When he discovered it, he listened to the whole thing in a week and drew pictures of all the characters, all with only a voice, a name, and a personality to go on. 

"Such as?" Levi asked. 

"There is a thin semantic line between weird and beautiful. And that line is covered in jellyfish." Eren quoted, "And then there's my personal favorite. Eggs aren't real. Nuh-Uh. Show me an egg. That's not an egg. What's an egg? Who let you in here?" 

"What?"

"It's a beautiful thing." Eren assured him, "It's also cool because it's super LGBT friendly. The main character is gay. And when I'm talking to people I forget to mention that. Then they get confused when I tel them that he's in love with Carlos. And there's Alecia. They're a non-binary masked giant from a desert other world. There's also Megan, she's a hand."

"How is Megan LGBT?"

"I don't know. But her best friend is a literal computer." Eren told him. He suggested they watched the next movie. At this rate they would never get through them. 

Eren had the sudden urge to put cat ears on Levi. He didn't really know why beyond Levi would look so cute with cat ears. He pictured him with ears that had a small layer of black fuzz over them. And a little black tail that would curl around his fingers. He'd stretch out over his lap and Eren would stroke his stomach gently and make Levi arch his back. He knew it wouldn't ever happen. Levi would never turn into a kitten. And, if he did, he'd be an angry adult cat that knocks over your water glass, not a precious baby kitten that small and would snuggle and lay on your chest so you could stroke it's ears. 

Eren curled back into Levi and watched the movie. He was oddly warm. He was like a human blanket. One date in and Eren never wanted to leave. They finished out the movie, Levi holding Eren close. The Winter Soldier messed with his emotions. Even though he knew it backwards and forwards. 

"You should tell me about Jean. He sounds like an odd person." Levi told him. 

"Oh. Well he has a big personality. He tends to come off as kind of rude and arrogant, which gave us a pretty bad relationship at first. We butted heads a lot. But he's a good guy. Deep down. He likes to pretend he's not. And I think he's still trying to figure himself out." Eren described his friend. 

"How so?

"Well for one he keeps changing his mind about who he wants to be. But he's very sure of his sexuality. He is as straight as straight gets. Even though the healthiest relationship he's ever been in is with another guy." Eren shrugged. He didn't get why he wouldn't just admit to himself that he might not be straight as an arrow, "I hate to say it, but I think him and Marco are over. After two years."

"What happened? Am I asking too many questions? I feel like I am." He looked down at his lap. 

"Not at all. I like to talk, so you just ask away. As to what happened, Marco's dying." Eren said, "He got cancer and it's bad. He's not recovering."

"Why do you say that? I thought you were super positive." Levi asked. 

"It's already into half of his head, a shoulder, one lung has shut down entirely, his entire arm, most of his ribs. It's not a pretty picture." Eren said.

"That sounds horrible." Levi's emotionless face softened. He looked really sorry, even without moving his face around very much. 

"Jean's more broken up than any of us. He hasn't left Marco since he was diagnosed." Eren smiled, "But you can tell he's starting to give up. All the life is going to be sucked out of him. I think that'll be more depressing than anything else. Anyway, on that happy note, I should get going. I have classes tomorrow that I haven't done homework in yet. Think I could see you again this weekend?"

"Not Saturday. I'm working extra hours to save up enough for hormones and stuff. But Sunday I'm free." He stood up and walking into the kitchen, "Come here."

Eren followed him where he dug around in drawers until he found a pen. He scribbled a number out on his arm and let him go with a small wave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Night Vale is a real thing. I made up none of this. Go listen to it. It's awesome.
> 
> I also have a sort of weakness for Neko!Levi for some reason. I always thought it was weird af, but now it's adorable.


End file.
